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Saturday, May 25, 2013

Our First Week With Buttons...

And what a week it's been.

I knew that Buttons would be a wonderful tool to help us take care of Bella. Nothing could've prepared me for the things I've seen this week.  This dog is a very special boy, I could tell after he had been here for 10 minutes when he squared up on Bella and put that foot in the middle of her chest to tell her there was something wrong. A high BG right after breakfast.

From there it was about 36 hours of intensive training with our trainer Phoebe. (Phoebe was so awesome that she deserves her own posting. But Bella bonded with her almost as quickly as she did with Buttons). Since Phoebe left us until early August, we have been working with Buttons nearly constantly. We've taken him out and about, walked him through just about every aisle in two different Wal*Marts, he's been to Bella's Endo appointment and to Sheetz several times. We've been focused on his obedience work but he's been a natural at alerting to Bella. He's gotten the paw alert down but still will stop and stare holes in Bella or simply get the hiccups if something is off. Of all the alerts he's given, and it's been a lot of them he seems to be 95%-98% accurate. We have a log and I'll go back and be more scientific about the numbers. Several times he has alerted and the numbers seem to be perfect, but we'll look and see she has enough insulin in her pump ready to be dispersed that she would be dangerously low in no time.

I've seen this dog make a complete stranger cry who witnessed Buttons alerting to a low. This dog has made me want to cry just seeing Bella's confidence with him. After her first night with Buttons I asked Bella how she slept and she replied "My dog protected me" very matter-of-factly.

It is still a long road, Buttons is a puppy and will challenge us I'm sure. But he has already proven to be exactly what we expected, it will still be a while before we can sleep through an entire night leaving it up to him but that day is coming. I slept through the 2AM alarm last night and woke up at 4:19 to a Black Lab paw to the head. I got up and checked a guy and Bella's BG was 88. Her low range starts at 89. Good Low Buttons...Keep them coming!


Hide and Seek in Lowes

Bella, Phoebe & Buttons!

2 comments:

  1. FYI, the blog post is by Bella's Daddy. This is Mommy, sitting here in tears, loving our boy and how much he has already kept his girl safe in 1 week. He is worth every single penny and then some. Thank you, SDWR and Phoebe! We love you!

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  2. You might not know me by name, but I am Allyson and I work at Best Value Drug. I am the one that took Bella & Button's picture & I am probably the stranger driven to tears just witnessing this precious miracle. (not sure, because I am sure there have been others) Now, as again I am driven to tears just to witness this miracle of your beautiful child and her relationship with her new furry brother I felt moved to (1)tell you how much I enjoy the blog and FB posts, Bella & Buttons makes me smile (2)tell you that I think your family is amazing. There are so many that would have let this obstacle overcome them but you have chosen to not only do any & everything humanly (canines too)possible to help your daughter but to share these experiences with the world. I commend you & look forward to reading more about your amazing journey.

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